A model grass gets its genomic profile
Friday, December 13, 2013 - 09:31
in Biology & Nature
The grass species known as the purple false brome, Brachypodium distachyon, has great potential as a model plant for research due to its short generation time, small size, small genome and ease of breeding. These features make the grass species an attractive stand-in for less tractable but agriculturally important crops such as wheat and barley. However, to fully realize the potential of Brachypodium as a laboratory tool, scientists need more sophisticated genetic resources than are currently available.